LOS ANGELES, Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Fox
Sports en Español announced today the return of the Copa Santander
Libertadores, the most prestigious soccer championship in Latin America which
this year celebrates its 50th anniversary.
The tournament will commemorate its half-century history with the
tagline "50 Years of Passion," and will coincide with the launch of a
brand-new logo and graphic design package for Fox Sports en Español, the first
and largest Spanish-language sports network in the U.S. Fox Sports en Español's live and exclusive
game coverage begins on January 27th with the first preliminary round match,
featuring Ecuador's Club El Nacional and Paraguay's Club Nacional. The
tournament encompasses 138 matches over a six-month span, culminating in the
two-leg final on the 1st and 8th of July.
The Copa Santander Libertadores, a fixture
in Fox Sports en Español's lineup since 2002, features 38 clubs from Mexico,
Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay, Venezuela, Uruguay, Colombia, Chile, Peru
and Bolivia. All matches will be
telecast exclusively live in Spanish on Fox Sports en Español. Headlining the
roster are Mexico's most storied teams, including the InterLiga(TM) champions,
the Chivas of Guadalajara, Club Pachuca and San Luis.
"Fox Sports en Español is honored to
bring its loyal audience exclusive and live coverage of the most coveted club
soccer tournament in the continent," said David Sternberg, Executive Vice
President and General Manager for Fox Sports en Español. "We are also thrilled to celebrate the
Cup's 50th anniversary, with the extra intensity and passion that it will bring
to the competition."
Acclaimed commentator Raúl Orvañanos will
perform play-by-play duties for all matches involving the Mexican teams;
additional commentators will be announced at a later date.
Network Juggernaut
2008 was a year of many milestones for Fox
Sports en Español: it reached 5 million Hispanic households nationwide,
launched in over 100 new affiliate systems and doubled its integrated sales
revenue. Furthermore, the network experienced enormous success with its core
programming franchise, the Copa Santander Libertadores, which experienced
ratings growth of 35% in Hispanic adults 18 - 49 from the previous year. 2009
has kicked off with the largest audience in the history of the channel, peaking
at 1.5 million viewers for a Chivas vs. Club America match in the InterLiga(TM)
tournament.
"We continue to be the most popular
and widely distributed Spanish-language sports platform in the U.S., due to a
relentless commitment to our viewers, providing them with the exclusive and
action-packed coverage they've come to expect from us," affirmed
Sternberg.
"One-Stop Media," the network's
integrated advertising sales department, has seen the loyalty of its
long-standing advertiser Toyota build on the success of its 2007 Cannes Silver
Media Lion award, by renewing its sponsorship of the Fox Sports en Español
broadcast of the Copa Santander Libertadores for 2009.
"Toyota's reinvestment in our network
demonstrates their commitment to excellence by placing advertising dollars
within the network's creative new extensions in 2009, which reach their
demographic in a targeted and integrated way, and deliver a solid ROI,"
said Tom Maney, Senior Vice President of advertising sales for the network.
As the 2009 Copa Santander Libertadores
begins this week, Fox Sports en Español will launch an extensive overhaul of
its corporate brand, providing a fresher look and feel to coincide with its
renewed dedication to staying on the forefront of innovation and the latest
trends. Fox Sports en Español viewers
will experience a more interactive brand that will further ignite their passion
and loyalty towards the channel. Fans
will also be able to interact with the new brand through various consumer touch
points including internet, wireless and print.
The redesign of the Fox Sports en Español
brand, along with its exclusive sports programming and high production values,
will further solidify the network's competitive advantage. Fox Sports en Español has positioned itself
as a major player in the digital space and will continue to deliver relevant
content across platforms to loyal Spanish speaking sports fans in 2009.
Copa Santander Libertadores Preliminary
Round Schedule
Time
Date Game (EST)
Tuesday, January 27, 2009 EL NACIONAL (ECU) v NACIONAL (PAR) 5:00 PM
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 U.DE CHILE (CHI) v PACHUCA (MEX) 5:00 PM
Wednesday, January 28, 2009 IND MEDELLIN (COL) v PENAROL (URU) 9:00 PM
Thursday, January 29, 2009 SP.CRISTAL (PERU) v ESTUDIANTES (ARG) 3:00
PM
Thursday, January 29, 2009 PALMEIRAS (BRA) v REAL POTOSI (BOL) 5:30 PM
Thursday, January 29, 2009 ANZOATEGUI (VEN) v CUENCA (ECU) 9:00 PM
Tuesday, February 03, 2009 PENAROL (URU) v IND MEDELLIN (COL) 6:00 PM
Tuesday, February 03, 2009 CUENCA (ECU) v ANZOATEGUI (VEN) 8:30 PM
Wednesday, February 04, 2009 ESTUDIANTES
(ARG) v SP.CRISTAL (PER) 5:30 PM
Wednesday, February 04,
2009 PACHUCA (MEX)
v U.DE CHILE (CHI) 8:00 PM
Thursday, February 05, 2009 REAL POTOSI (BOL) v PALMEIRAS (BRA) 1:30 AM
Thursday, February 05, 2009 NACIONAL (PAR) v EL NACIONAL (ECU) 6:00 PM
For a complete schedule of Fox Sports en
Español's exclusive telecasts of the Copa Santander Libertadores, please visit
the network's website at www.foxsportsla.msn.com.
About Fox Sports en Español
Fox Sports en Español features more than
1,600 hours of live, exclusive sports programming in Spanish and, with few
exceptions, English SAP each year, including InterLiga(TM), the Copa Santander
Libertadores, the Copa Nissan Sudamericana, and the FIFA Club World Cup soccer
tournaments; the Major League Baseball regular season, League Championship
Series, All-Star Game and World Series; and premier combat sports including
championship boxing from Mexico and the U.S., Ultimate Fighting Championship(R)
and kickboxing. The channel reaches more than 14.4 million cable and satellite
households in the country, of which over 5 million are U.S. Hispanic
Households.
Fox Sports en Español is distributed by
Fox Cable Networks Group and operated by Fox Pan American Sports LLC, an
international sports programming and production entity jointly owned by HM
Capital Partners, LLC and News Corporation's (NYSE: NWS) Fox Sports
International. For more information,
visit Fox Sports en Español online at foxsportsla.msn.com.
SOURCE
Fox Sports en Español
